Perhaps, in the end, it's fate
by Fourangers
Summary: What if, by a tilt of destiny, Naruto went to another team back when they were genin? However, no matter how many different paths might unfold, between them, there would be always an automatic pull since they share an interchangeable fate. SasuNaruSasu, ninjaverse AU, teacher!Naru, dad!Sasu
1. Chapter 1

AN: It's ninjaverse AU, completely different timeline. Based on February prompt from Sun and Moon Challenge from tumblr, check it out once you can! SNS, T-rated. Comedy and Romance.

⏤.⏤

Squinting his eyes, he swallowed dryly with fingers crossed. He hoped his future mentor would be wise and kind, his teammates nice and welcoming. If he could stretch a little bit more in this wishing department, maybe Sakura will be part of his team. Well, anything, anyone but Sasuke. It was already humiliating enough losing his first kiss to that bastard, going on missions with him would be. The. Worst.

Iruka cleared his throat, staring the list. "Well, Team 7 will be Haruno Sakura..."

Naruto inhaled sharply, tightening his fists.

"Uchiha Sasuke..." He could hear Sakura's jubilant scream all across the classroom, in midst of other feminine complaints and whining. Naruto groaned too.

"...and Hyuuga Neji."

Huh.

That was...sort of unexpected. Really unexpected.

Naruto frowned, wondering why it felt so out of place that he wouldn't be part of this team.

Iruka continued to recite. "That means that the last team will be Rock Lee, Tenten and Uzumaki Naruto."

He threw a tentative glance towards his future teammates, trying not to get freaked out towards the most humongous eyebrows he had ever met in his life. This boy was also wearing a spandex, a bowl cut haircut style and a goofy smile. His female teammate, on the other hand, simply smiled once she noticed him, waving her hand.

Naruto awkwardly waved back, butterflies squirming in his stomach. A brand new life lied ahead of him and he couldn't wait to get into his first ninja mission.

His new teacher was a bigger weirdo named Maito Gai. He wore Lee's same spandex and had even thicker brows, but every qualm was instant quelled once he showed impressive taijutsu skills. He was also unbelievably patient and kind with his protegées, taking notes of their strengths and deficiencies, even teaching basic ninjutsus skills to Naruto that he didn't manage to learn back in ninja Academy.

Gai had auto-proclaimed rival to Team 7's leader, some shady guy named Kakashi. They stumbled towards that team on a rather frequent basis while watching Gai's bravados and weird contests with Kakashi laidback responses. That also meant that Naruto and Lee were busy wooing (or at least trying to) Sakura. Noticing Lee's unsuccessful attempts to ask her out made him shift for another strategy; concentrating on the other rival ergo Uchiha Sasuke.

(though frankly, while sprawled on the bed after another grueling day of training, Naruto had to admit that what he wanted the most was to check if Sasuke, who is another orphan like him, was doing ok on his own)

Sasuke egged him on, honestly. Calling him a total dumbass, smirking while they bickered, it was refreshing someone acknowledge him aside his teammates.

Sakura was treating him better in comparison to the Academy days, much to his positive surprise. She muttered something about Sasuke giving her a blistering lecture, defending Naruto out, which broke his wall for a second.

Chuunin exams arrived, Lee and Tenten losing in the preliminaries, fueling Naruto to get a victory for the team. His fight against Hyuuga Neji ended with some broken bones, painful conversations, a promise and a new friend. He was looking forward to see Sasuke defeat Gaara to honor Konoha, however, as life was full of unexpected changes, that innocuous exam ended with the Sandaime Hokage murdered and the village being attacked.

The village council convinced Kakashi be a temporary Hokage, everyone gathering around to fix the destruction. Soon they returned to their old routine with the usual genin missions while they went back to train. Naruto kept helping Tenten to conjure better weapons as well as sparring with Lee. He had to admit that while Gai was a good teacher, he wished he could expand even further his skills to something other than taijutsu…

Before he could get back to the idyllic days, out of nowhere, Sasuke disappeared. Rumors spread seeing Sakura's swollen eyes and Kakashi handling a mission to retrieve him. All genins he knew assembled a team with Shikamaru as the leader and Neji to talk him through.

The mission was a complete utter failure.

"He just didn't listen to me. I even mentioned you Naruto-kun, how it's possible for anyone to get out from our personal darkness and conquer fate but still…" Neji shook his head, swallowing a soldier pill to replenish his depleted chakra.

Words of disagreement lodged on his throat but he couldn't voice it out. Naruto knew, somehow, that if it were him, instead of Neji, maybe…Maybe he'd be able to convince Sasuke, or…

After this incident, he noticed Sakura's grim expression when she started her medic nin training, as well as Neji's renewed determination to change the Hyuuga clan. Naruto questioned himself, why he wanted with almost the same intensity to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, despite wondering if he'd make a difference. He's not even his teammate…

And yet he pondered; was this the reason why he accepted Jiraiya's tutelage, when Gai mentioned about him when they went to retrieve Tsunade?

But as painful that experience was for everyone involved in, life moved on. Even shadows casting on Team 7's eyes were blurring out, Sakura mentioning her ex-teammate with a somewhat nostalgia instead of bitterness, and Neji found a closer friendship with Naruto as years passed by.

Naruto questioned himself then, the irrational need to work to the bone 24/7, red iris plaguing his dreams sometimes. He was evolving, he was becoming a stronger ninja and yet he always felt that he didn't reach his full potential. As if his body was waiting for a worthy rival to inspire him.

Team 7 and Team Gai were celebrating together for gaining their chuunin title, as well as Neji's jounin promotion. Lee and Sakura used this opportunity to reveal that they were dating, shocking them all. They were a cute couple; Naruto figured, so he approached her to drop a quiet confession.

"You know, it's funny but I used to have a crush on you." He muttered, sipping his tea.

Sakura stared with wide eyes, before letting out a short chuckle.

"What!" Naruto yowled. "I mean, don't sell yourself short, you are cute so a lot of boys liked you and I used to be one of them so⏤"

Sakura shook her head, giggling. "No, no, no, I mean...I thought you used to have a crush on Sasuke."

His jaw dropped to the ground. "What?!"

"Yes, whenever our teams met, you were busier staring at him and trying to get him to fight you than trying to talk with me. So I thought maybe you were into him? Like the typical boy who pull the girl's pigtails because he likes her. Well, though you two were boys. Was I wrong?"

Naruto was scarlet red to the tip of his hair, mouth still slack, unable to formulate any complete sentence. Sakura's smile grew more mischievous so he settled to avoid looking at her, wolfing down his plate.

Sakura pursed her lips, sagging on her seat. "Sasuke huh...he's coming back, you know."

For a second, the world stood stock still. "What?"

She shrugged, fingers twirling strands of hair. "You heard that right. He wants to go back to Konoha, claiming that he saw the errors of his way. So he traded important information about Sound Village and Orochimaru to regain his citizenship and ninja status in Konoha."

A silence fell between them as they both took their time to absorb this bout of information. Sakura cheered up once her boyfriend was back with fresh food, but Naruto was lost thinking about all possibilities.

Few days later, Sasuke arrived at the gates, battered and tired, cradling a cloth wrapping with his arms. He was already the main gossip of the town, then the whispers grew exponentially once they confirmed that he was, indeed, holding a little child.

At a tender age of 18, this young man was already a father.

Naruto hid in some corner of a store, glancing surreptitiously as Sasuke strolled through the streets, uncaring to people gawking and muttering around him. The toddler began shuffling, hiccuping. Those small noises soon turned to loud wails that made him stop at once, cradling her close as he made little bounces though this wasn't enough to calm her down. People made annoyed faces and had quicken their paces, everyone refused to help him out.

Listening to the cries that increased in volume, he bit his lip, taking a deep breath. He emerged from his spot, walking closer to Sasuke who appeared a little frantic.

"Um." Naruto scratched the back of his head when Sasuke turned to face him with a glare, hands busy while his daughter kept crying. "Maybe you can try putting her body resting over your upper arm, like a tiger resting on a branch."

Sasuke stared skeptical, despite obeying his suggestion. Her short yowls decreased, breathing becoming more even till she slept in his arms. Needless to say, Sasuke was rather impressed.

"Uh yeah⏤Iruka-toosan sometimes asks me to help him out taking care of children in the daycare center. I got some of those tips."

Sasuke grunted back, gazing upon his baby.

"So…" Naruto smacked his lips. "Welcome back? Uh, what's her name?"

Sasuke huffed, placing her head on his left shoulder. "Sarada."

Naruto held her tiny hand, smiling with a whisper. "Sarada-chan~welcome to Konoha. You're gonna love living here, meeting auntie Sakura, uncle Neji, Kakashi, me...how old is she?"

Sasuke scrunched up his face, staring downwards. "9 months. I thought...I'd be fine on my own but in the end, we needed⏤" He thinned his lips. "I said too much." Before Naruto would ask any further question, Sasuke said. "I should get going. Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto nodded back, watching the brisk steps moving away from him.

Once Sasuke had settled in the old Uchiha compound, Sakura, Neji and Kakashi visited him. They were welcoming, but absent. After all, Sakura was busy in Konoha's hospital, Kakashi was going to be officially appointed as Konoha's Hokage, Neji was helping his cousin changing Hyuuga clan's laws.

There was a significant chasm between Sasuke and other ninjas of his generation, since he was now a father between young adults, and left Konoha while the Rookie Nine nurtured their relationship over the years. He made no effort to draw the bridge too, cooped in his house taking care of his daughter most of the time. And even when the gang would reunite, he was always the last one to arrive, the first to go.

On some occasions Sakura would succeed in convincing him to bring his daughter whenever team Gai and team 7 would gather in her house. Sasuke however, maintained his distance with the crew, aside some quiet conversation with Neji.

It was almost like living in an old film reel, rolling all over again. Watching Sasuke as a child from afar, craving to reach his hand and talk to him but never building enough courage to do so. They became mere acquaintances, the occasional nod of recognition when they crossed paths, making small talks while Sasuke was nursing Sarada. Soon Naruto became jounin when Sasuke managed the chuunin title, Lee mentioning he and Sakura took care of Sarada while he was doing the exams.

He stared down the porcelain mask while the townspeople cheered the end of Kakashi's appointed ceremony. Gai stood next to him, and Naruto smiled from his teacher's happiness emanating from afar. Long time ago, he remembered desiring conquering such coveted position, but nowadays he was content knowing that Kakashi would make a decent Hokage.

(why did he lose so easily his determination to follow his ambitions?)

Kakashi didn't waste much time in celebration, throwing mission after mission on him, one longer than the other and in some faraway sketchy places. Most those times Naruto could only hear the faint echoes of their sprinting, casting long shadows on the cavernous walls. He was responsible exploding laboratories while Tenten gathered reports, weird shapes submerged in purpleish water.

How bizarre. Sometimes he could swear some of those shapes had some resemblance with Sasuke.

⏤.⏤

Iruka was like a father to him and he deserved this long vacation after years of tireless tutelage. But still.

Screams. Collisions. Little imps running around all over the place. Those squirmy little brats slithering out of his grasp and making a racket.

Naruto really needed to work in refusing Iruka's requests, but the older nin was just this damn persuasive.

He spread his clones in every corner of the daycare center, however, it didn't seem to be enough. The moment the kids understood that his bunshins could pop out with some harder shove, they made their newest game dispelling as many clones as possible.

Yet those kids were old enough to learn basics of ninja skills, so other teachers threw such responsibility on Naruto's shoulders, considering he had a higher rank. He had a hard time tampering down his strength, why are children such squiggly delicate beings that cried with the littlest wound?

Naruto spent only one day with them and he was already wondering if he would leave this experience unscathed. Nevertheless he summoned every bit of his patience and taught the fundamentals of aiming, giving them the chance to train too.

He heard collective praises and some gasps coming from afar, approaching and noticing the dark haired girl concentrated on her task. Whoa...time surely flies by pretty damn fast. He had forgotten that Sarada was already 5 years old. Naruto snorted when he saw that most shurikens she threw hit the bullseye.

But that wasn't enough to satisfy her, since she picked all the paper shurikens and threw with renewed zeal. The rest of the kids went away playing on their own, but Sarada remained in training. Heaving tired breaths, she flung another shuriken but this time it flew past the target.

She made a frustrated growl, running to dislodge the weapon that dug deep in the bark of a tree. Naruto heard a concealed hiccup, as Sarada rubbed her eyes with her arm.

"Hey, don't worry about it, I got this." Naruto appeared in a blink, quirking a mollifying smile and removed the shuriken with ease. He offered to the young Uchiha, she accepted the weapon with contemplative eyes.

"You're Lee-san's friend right?" She realized.

"Sure am! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, it's nice to see you again Sarada-chan." Naruto patted her head. "You know, it's really important to train your skills, but taking a break is also equally as important. Letting your body rest when it's so tired, so it can grow stronger the next time."

Sarada pouted, then muttered. "Auntie Sakura told me stories about back when my father was my age. He was a genius, always great with whatever he did, but I'm…"

"Ah yeah your dad...I also remember that he used to train all day and night over and over again. You'll get as good as him in no time, don't worry about it."

"But…" Sarada bit her lower lip, shuffling her feet. "Father once talked to me about the Uchiha clan and how it used to be a very respectable clan and I have to follow their footsteps so⏤"

"Ugh, who cares!" Naruto rolled his eyes. "I think it's too much that this bastard⏤"

She gasped. "You said a bad word!"

"S-sorry." He scratched his head. "Anyways, I think it's unfair to put such heavy duties on your shoulders. Your dad suffered back he was your age, I don't want you to suffer the same. You should be only Sarada-chan after all right! You'll make your father proud in your own pace."

"You think so?"

"I know so! After all, I'm already proud of you and I'm your teacher, right." He messed her hair, patting on it.

Sarada stared down her shuriken, thumbs sliding over it. She peeked through her fringes, a rosy blush dusting her cheeks. "Thank you Uzumaki-sensei."

"Oh, you can call me Naruto." He grinned.

Her voice pumped with more excitement as she said. "Naruto-sensei!"

On the following days Naruto continued with his ninja classes, juggling between paying attention to all students, focusing on the rowdy ones, teaching those lessons and avoid any kind of catastrophe might ensue. He had found another mounting respect towards Iruka, those kids just can't be real.

In every class Sarada was the first to complete it with pristine score, dashing next to him with eyes silently asking for his praise.

And praise he did, with words of encouragement and approval, injecting an impressed tone as he ruffled her hair. Every single time this gave her renewed motivation to improve herself. Naruto gazed fondly from afar as Sarada hopped between trees with ease. His entire childhood was consumed by hatred and neglect from adults until he met Iruka, he'd never subject any other kid to such trauma once again.

"Naruto-sensei!" Sarada exclaimed, hugging his arm with a tight grip.

Naruto beamed, patting her hair. He was starting to see the perks of this profession, was this the reason why Iruka continued to be a teacher despite having to take care of these little brats everyday?

A baritone voice chimed from behind. "Ah, I see. Expected nothing less I guess."

They turned around, facing the familiar piercing dark eyes. Sasuke gazed back in fond amusement.

"So you're really the Naruto-sensei my daughter kept gushing about all last week."

Sarada pale cheeks reddened at once. "Father!"

"Alright little one, it's time to go home." Sasuke hushed by patting on her back. "Go grab our things ok." After Sarada obeyed him with a pronounced pout, Sasuke muttered once she was out of the picture. "Long time no see."

"Yeah…" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "You look well I guess."

"Hn. When Lee told me you're subbing for Iruka-sensei, I didn't quite believe at first. I thought you're a jounin?"

"I am, but Iruka-toosan made me promise that I'd take care of them while he's on vacation. I thought, well, kids right. I took care of 'em sometimes, one whole month would be nothing and⏤"

"It's hell isn't it?" Sasuke smirked.

Naruto dropped his shoulders at once, a long groan vibrating on his throat. "Totally. I was already dead on the first day."

Sasuke nodded in agreement. "Sarada thankfully is more helpful than most children. But still, where do they get all this energy?"

"I know right?" Naruto laughed. "They look so small I thought they wouldn't be much trouble but whoa, did I misjudge on this one."

Sarada arrived with backpack ready. "I'm back father!"

"Good. Maybe we'll go eat outside for a change."

"Oh! You should eat Ichiraku Ramen then, it's perfect for cold day like today!" Naruto said.

Sasuke shook his head. "You and your Ichiraku Ramen, I remember you used to drag Lee and Tenten to eat at that place."

"Ichiraku Ramen is the greatest, I was just doing them a favor to acknowledge such fact. There's no other restaurant that would have such delicious braised pork, a tender yet firm noodles coupled with the rich texture and savory miso broth. It's the best."

"If Naruto-sensei said so, maybe we should try it!" Sarada chirped. A lightbulb went off and she added. "Maybe he could go with us!"

Both young men crossed their eyes before deflecting in haste, Naruto cleared his throat as Sasuke thinned his lips. "Naruto-sensei looks pretty tired, maybe we shouldn't bother him too much Sarada."

"Oh, she's not bothering me for sure." Naruto retorted. "But maybe you want to have some quiet time together with your father, right, Sarada-chan?"

"Father wouldn't mind if you tag along Naruto-sensei, right?" Sarada pulled out the most pitiful expression she could ever muster, jutting her lower lip. "Right?"

Glancing in between her frantic daughter and the bewildered blue eyes, Sasuke exhaled tiredly. He mumbled under his breath. "Is it ok for you to go with us Naruto?"

"Um, ok. Sure!" He messed with Sarada's hair when she jumped in joy. "I'm going to ask my favorite Ramen flavor for you Sarada-chan, I'm sure you're going to love it."

Despite initial reservations, they maintained a cheerful conversation peppered with Naruto's booming voice and Sarada's exclaims while they were walking on the way to the restaurant. This time though, Sasuke appeared to be a more sociable mood, chatting back with occasional grunts, which Naruto didn't mind with his easy-going nature.

Sasuke insisted paying the bill despite all his protests, explaining that this was a small gesture of gratitude for taking care of his daughter. After waving goodbyes, they went on separate ways, smile playing on both their lips.

"Naruto-sensei is like the sun right!"

Sasuke blinked, head tilted to one side to gawk at her. Sarada linked her fingers together, placing to one side of her cheek as she whispered with a dreamy voice.

"He's so nice and friendly, full of energy and bright. And when he smiles you just feel happier too, it's wide and sincere, he makes your mood so much better. I love his hair, it's golden exactly like the sun and his eyes have such a beautiful shade of blue, I'd never get tired looking at his eyes and⏤" She stopped her diatribe once she noticed her father's peering eyes. "What?"

Sasuke studied his daughter, before settling with a long sigh.

She wrinkled her nose. "Anyways, as I was saying…"

⏤.⏤


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto had rather liked that evening with the Uchihas. They were a very pleasant company, despite the huge difference in personality between him and Sasuke. The latter must have shared this same opinion because from that day, he began picking Sarada in her classroom instead of making her wait at the entrance of the school, so they could spend some hours talking before they would go home.

However, now that Sasuke picked his daughter every day, Naruto could notice some small oddities. Most kids had their mother and their father switching days between them to pick them up, other days their big brother or big sister would be there. Well, it made sense Sasuke would be the only one for Sarada since he was a single father, but considering the hectic schedule of ninja missions, not all parents could follow a regular pattern in their daily chores.

Naruto saw Sasuke organizing the report files while sprinting around the Hokage room and everything clicked.

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed, ignoring the curious glances thrown in his direction. Sasuke nodded politely back, hands sorting the thick stack of papers.

It must be pretty boring though, having a 9 to 5 desk job even if it's for a good reason. Back when they were still genins, Neji mentioned how Sasuke always sought dangerous missions to improve his ninjutsu, so it must have been pretty frustrating being tasked with such mind numbing bureaucratic work.

"Wanna spar?" He blurted out before he could stop himself.

Sasuke halted his chores midway, staring back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I mean⏤" He felt his face heating up, so he explained. "Lee once said you're good in taijutsu, I wanted to try out if it's true."

"It's still working hours, I don't think I can." Sasuke snorted, placing the organized papers on the table.

"Actually, you can Sasuke. Training is counted as an approved activity in the job description. You can go." Kakashi muttered, waving his hand in dismissal.

Gai smiled, glancing between Naruto and Sasuke. "Hey Kakashi, that means my ex-student is going to spar against your ex-student! I'm confident about Naruto's abilities, we should make a bet right?"

Kakashi considered, then said. "You're right. I bet 5000 ryos on Naruto."

If looks could kill, Kakashi would have been buried 100 feet underground.

The Hokage closed his eye in lazy amusement, replying. "You've done nothing but pressing paper for over four years Sasuke, so forgive me when I think you've gotten rusty."

Gai was a little abashed, scratching his head. "Well, this assessment is not really fair when Sasuke used to be such a bright youth right? So I'm betting 5000 ryos on him."

"So...let's get going?" Naruto mumbled, before the conversation between their former teachers would get heated. Sasuke confirmed with a shrug and a short nod.

They agreed to train in some wide spot Team 7 used to go for practice. With his fingers laced together as he raised his arms up, Naruto observed Sasuke also making his own stretching exercises. Maybe he needed to go easy on Sasuke after all, since Kakashi was right, he was really out of practice.

"So you prefer taijutsu only, nothing else?" Sasuke asked, cracking his knuckles.

Naruto studied him, then shrugged. "Nah, I think we can try out everything in our arsenal."

"No holds barred?"

Naruto chuckled. "I mean, maybe. As long as we don't go too far ya know."

"Hn." One blink, Sasuke disappeared.

All his instincts rushed to his body and Naruto raised his kunai to parry shurikens raining towards his head. He jumped backwards, deflecting few blows, metallic clashes in midst of grunts and heavy breathing. His reflexes were quick to make him dodge a fireball, somersaulting as he made his signature move and multiplied himself to a dozen.

From afar he saw Sasuke pausing for a moment, reconsidering the situation as he disappeared once again. Naruto registered his clone from the farthest right disappearing, also recollecting the memory of the Uchiha activating his doujutsu Sharingan.

Cursing to himself, two of his clones threw Water jutsu on Sasuke's direction, though he evaded with almost nothing but few droplets reaching his hair. This gave him an opening to deliver an upper kick that Sasuke defended with his arm, both seasoned shinobis using taijutsu, their limbs moving in synch that it looked like a choreographed dance.

It's been too long since Naruto had so much fun sparring with anyone, exerting to the limits of himself, demanding to use every skill in his arsenal. Every fiber of his body was solely concentrated in this fight that he didn't realize the wide grin stretching on his lips, mirroring with Sasuke's hitched smirk.

Sasuke managed to dispel on of his clones with a kick, throwing electric needles to eliminate other two. Naruto used this moment to drill a Rasengan on his back.

Sasuke poofed away.

Naruto had less than a second to be indignant that the Uchiha actually used his jutsu against him (**his **jutsu dammit!), nimble hand signs effectively conjured a water snake that drenched Sasuke from head to toe. He didn't had enough time to gloat towards the venomous glare before the hair on the back of his neck stood up and he looked upwards.

An ominous thunderclap echoed in the forest as lightning gathered on Sasuke's hand, while he was perched on a tree. He jumped, aiming his jutsu towards Naruto and his brain worked miles per second. Naruto bit his thumb, summoning two massive frogs. While those two frogs were occupied fighting Sasuke, he fell into a meditative position, the nature's energy gathering around him and giving a reddish hue on his eyebrows. When Sasuke activated his jutsu again, fingers inching dangerously close to his body, Naruto deflected with one hand clutching Sasuke's hand and dispelling the Chidori, his other hand charging till the tip of his kunai pierced lightly the pale neck.

He was also aware another Sasuke behind him, katana positioned on his waist.

"Give up dumbass, I have the advantage." Sasuke grunted, the pointy metal breaking his skin and letting it fall a droplet of blood.

"No, this is a tie. This Sasuke behind me is a clone."

"How can you be so sure?"

"You really think I wouldn't know my own jutsu, bastard? C'mon." Naruto beamed mischievously.

Sasuke thinned his lips, narrowing his eyes. "Fine. Truce for now."

Naruto guarded his weapons as he returned to his standard body position, while Sasuke also relaxed his limbs. Crimson eyes were still activated, three tomoes spinning. Naruto took this opportunity to peruse closer.

"What?" Sasuke growled, noticing the curious blue eyes.

"Oh, nothing. It's been a while since I saw the Sharingan so up close. So that's how you copied my bunshin jutsu right?"

Sasuke nodded.

"That's really cool." Naruto muttered in awe, Sasuke stiffened before rolling his eyes.

Since Sasuke appeared to be willing to be scrutinized despite being a little off put, Naruto observed all details on his iris. He only used to see back when Team 7 would go with them on missions, with Kakashi utilizing it. Sharingan always used to be an impressive Kekkei Genkai but on Sasuke it was almost...eerily beautiful.

Naruto shook his head, inwardly groaning. He should get his head out of the gutter, good God.

Unbeknownst to himself, Sasuke was also gazing his eyes, noting the red pigment on his eyebrows, yellow iris and horizontal pupil. "What kind of doujutsu you're using?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm actually using Sage mode from the frogs in Mount Myoboku." Naruto explained. "I'm learning how to harness the nature's energy to my own."

"Hn." Sasuke used his Sharingan to study how Naruto's chakra was absorbing the air and strengthening within each second. "That's impressive."

Sasuke's compliment took him off-guard, and Naruto muttered scratching his cheek. "Uh⏤thanks." Curse his blood vessels heating up his face. Unable to concentrate, the tanned face suddenly bloated up.

The Uchiha took several jumps backwards, crossing his arms.

"Argh, fuck. This happens sometimes, I still hadn't mastered this technique yet." Naruto sighed, staring his webbed hands and slimy skin.

Sasuke grunted. "Well, this looks pretty bad. How do we reverse it?"

The blond man thought for a while, recollecting past trainings with his frogs. He approached Sasuke, pointing to himself. "Hit me."

The Uchiha quirked an eyebrow.

"No seriously, hit me."

Sasuke took one more second staring in deadpan before shrugging and punched square on his face.

"Ow, what the hell, you didn't have to hit me that hard!" Naruto growled.

"It worked." Sasuke responded in monotone, quirking a sardonic smirk.

The blond nin continued to mumble and grumble, hand nursing his cheek. Overall though, this was the best training he had ever had in his life. He certainly wouldn't mind continuing and he could see himself, enjoying and improving fast with a sparring partner like Sasuke.

"Well, I guess you weren't that bad, you got some decent moves." Naruto puffed out his chest, grinning. Sasuke snorted. "Maybe we could try making his a regular thing, like every Monday and Wednesdays, or at least thrice per week, what do you think?"

"Hn." Sasuke stared down Naruto's offered hand and shook it firmly. "Fine."

⏤.⏤

After that, it was natural that the Uchihas slowly began wedging their presence in his life. Naruto would spend mornings sparring with Sasuke, afternoons helping Sarada. On evenings they would hang all together, sometimes Sasuke would invite the blond nin for some dinner, then he would ask for some help buying school supplies, Naruto would spend the rest of the day with them doing regular tasks like going to grocery store, playing at the park and so on.

All those activities might look mundane at first glance, but Naruto enjoyed those moments the most, like this family was sharing a portion of their lives with him. Sarada looked ecstatic whenever she would get extra hours with her favorite teacher, Sasuke appeared to be less monosyllabic too.

Even after his temporary job as daycare teacher had ended, Naruto promised he'd continue giving tips and help Sarada train whenever he could. He always had a soft spot on children and although sometimes he didn't know how to act around little girls, it was a joy being the receiving end from her genuine ways of showing affection.

Her father, on the other hand…he was one complicated man. Naruto heard his story from third parties and only watched him from afar, so getting to know Sasuke personally up close was an entire different thing, uncovering layer upon layer from such complex personality. However, despite this apparent difference, they just clicked pretty well. Even if they would bicker and tease each other most times, it wasn't with a malicious intent.

Also, Naruto couldn't quite explain but…he had never felt so close to someone like before. Of course, he appreciated and held much fondness towards his former teammates Tenten, Lee and Gai-sensei and would never trade them with anyone else, however, Sasuke was special. He couldn't put into words why this man held such magnetic pull towards him.

It was undeniable by now the strong bond Naruto had with them, to the point that it was hard going on long missions to remote locations, feeling guilty from Sarada's heartbroken expression whenever he would explain he'd be away for a while. Sasuke was more understanding, obviously, however he wondered if Sasuke had another sparring partner or he'd get bored to his usual Hokage assistant job.

In quiet moments of his mission, Naruto would let his mind go astray, thinking about the Uchihas, if they were eating well, if Sarada was improving in her chakra control, if Sasuke was getting better in raising her. He hoped they wouldn't meet too much pain and suffering along the way, that they had untroubled and happy days, Sasuke would be able to open up to his daughter.

"ox⏤ Fox!"

Widening his eyes, Naruto dodged in the nick of time before he would collide to a tree branch.

"Okay, maybe we should rest a little." The ANBU captain muttered, scratching his head with a heavy sigh. "What's the matter with you? Your head is on the clouds."

"Sorry. Got a lot of things in my mind." Landing on a nearby branch, he picked his water canteen as his fellow teammates also paused to rest.

Neji pushed his Eagle mask backwards and took a quiet sip. "He's probably thinking about Sasuke right now."

Naruto spat out his drink. "How!⏤N⏤I mean⏤what⏤when?"

"Lee told about this to Sakura, which in turn told me and Kakashi-sensei. While she was gushing about you two, obviously." Neji explained, taking a mild amusement looking the tanned skin turning crimson red in terms of seconds.

Naruto scowled. "Geez, gossipers much? I can't believe this."

"Well, I guess we would always keep a close eye on Sasuke since we never knew if he was going to adjust well in Konoha after many years being…somewhere else." Neji mumbled, his mood turning a little sour. Closing his eyes with an long exhale, he said. "Fortunately I was wrong in the end. As his former teammate and his friend, I'm glad you guys have gotten closer. Sasuke needs a good influence like yours, I hope you'll help him find his way out of his personal darkness, just like you've done to me back when we were kids."

"I appreciate your words, but you think too highly about me Neji." Naruto laughed, rubbing his neck.

"Do I? I think you're underestimating yourself. I remember back that day you said you were going to be a Hokage and change the ninja system. I still believe this will happen one day."

Their conversation was interrupted when the ANBU captain called them up and they resumed going to the designated spot to meet a informant from Sound village.

It was another empty laboratory located underground, the constant pitter-patter from the rain reverberating in the long corridors. Neji was first to locate a foreign chakra from afar so they got their weapons ready.

"Finally, Konoha ninjas. That took a while, I've been waiting for too long."

Naruto resisted the urge to call for his bunshins as a knee-jerk reaction, once he instantly recognized the dark-rimmed glasses and the grey-haired ponytail. "Kabuto."

Kabuto raised his hands, holding a scroll. "I'm not here to fight, I'm your informant."

"You? Of all people?" He balled his hand to a fist, body tense, ready to spring in action in any split second. "Seriously doubt it."

"Let's just say I had some real eye-opener experience. Konohagakure has been struggling to pinpoint Orochimaru's location even after Sasuke-kun gave vital information about Sound village right? I know which exactly laboratories he's in this time."

"What makes you think we'll believe in you?" Neji questioned.

Kabuto gave a short bark of laughter, sighing. "Orochimaru-sama…he had perfected his masterpiece at last. And I was blind for too long, not seeing that once I was useless to him, he was done having me by his side. I'm also done with him. Done being his shadow, being weaker than him. So I'm helping you out, eliminating him at last."

"Bitter revenge huh." The captain muttered, adjusting his deer mask. "You're also wanted for your crimes, what makes you think we'd let you slide?"

"This scroll will only activate after my chakra is miles away from it, plus, I'm sure you're all more motivated avenging your sweet old man Sandaime Hokage than going after me. Let's just say this is a temporary truce while we eliminate a bigger threat right?" Kabuto slithered back to his shadows, his echoed voice surrounding them. "See you later then."

⏤.⏤

Naruto never forgot Kakashi's menacing expression while they reported this mission. It was a sharp reminder why that man stood as the current leader in the one of strongest ninja villages of the world.

Shikamaru informed him that they'd need some more weeks to take off in the next mission, so he had plenty of free time to rest. He took this opportunity to visit the daycare much to Sarada's bubbling happiness, he was growing more and more attached to her. Sasuke arrived later to pick her up, blinking once he saw both Naruto and his daughter perched upside down from a tree, waiting for him.

"Didn't expect for you to return so soon from your mission." Sasuke inquired, while they were eating outside.

Naruto slurped his ramen noodles, humming. "Mm, just went to gather some information, so I didn't take too long."

Sasuke swallowed the salty broth, eyes unfocused for a second.

Pleasant idyllic days followed suit, Sarada even invited him to eat dinner in their home, and while he was busy drinking fake tea with her dolls, blue eyes threw furtive glances towards her dad, which in turn had his hands fully occupied cooking food.

This might turn into dangerous zone, how frightening was the fact that they were becoming an integral part of his life. He didn't want to sever these bonds in any kind of circumstances, so even though he knew his attraction to Sasuke, he buried those feelings as much as he could.

He quickly made up an excuse whenever Sarada attempted to convince him sleep over in their house, throwing himself to his bed with a loud exhale. There were only few days left for his next mission, it'd be a welcoming interruption to let him cool down.

His telephone rang in the middle of the night, startling him. He was half asleep until he heard Sasuke's frantic voice.

"Sarada is missing."

His nerves were on full alert at once, a cold pit lodged in his stomach. "What?!" Naruto shouted. "What happened?!"

"We…we kind of had a disagreement over some things and she ran off⏤but I forgot you've been training her lately so she just jumped disappearing in the forest." Sasuke babbled, losing his cool. "I can't pinpoint her chakra so I called Neji, Kakashi and Sakura⏤Lee is also helping me out and I thought, calling you if it's not a bothe⏤"

"I'm on it. It's not a bother at all." Naruto reassured, picking the closest jacket and his cellphone at hand.

This was the most excruciating hours he had ever had in his life. Naruto practically turned the village upside down, searching everywhere in a breakneck speed while trying hard not to imagine all horrid scenarios that came to his mind. What if some pervert saw Sarada's cutesy appearance and took advantage that she was alone? Naruto gritted his teeth, increasing his speed.

His cellphone rang, showing Sakura's number. With his heart almost jumping to his throat, he muttered. "Yeah?"

"I found her Naruto."

Naruto sighed relieved, relaxing his shoulders. "Thank God, that's great! Is she alright?"

"Yes, but she's still crying, the poor baby." His own distress tasted bitter once he could hear tiny hiccups from the other receiving end. Sakura made some soothing noises, whispering. "She said she only wanted to see you, can you come over here?"

He obeyed her request immediately, hopping roof to roof to arrive as soon as he could. Sakura was still holding Sarada in her arms with Lee standing next to her, both looked troubled. Sasuke was few feet away from them, face grim with eyebrows knitted, but his eyes were focused in his daughter.

"Sarada-chan, I'm here." Naruto called with a kind tone, smile gradually broadening in his lips.

Sarada stilled before she struggled to get herself out of Sakura's arms. Sakura softly dropped her to the ground, letting Sarada run towards Naruto. Dropping to one knee, he hugged the little girl while patting her back, squeezing her trembling shoulders.

"You gave me a quite scare running off like that, Sarada-chan. Are you alright?" He felt a shaky nod close to his neck so he said. "Ok, you must be really tired right? Should we go home for you to sleep?"

"No! I don't want to go with father." Sarada shook her head vehemently, arms tightening around him. "I hate him!"

Naruto felt a surge of nervousness crawling in his spine when he saw Sasuke flinching in response. "Aww⏤c'mon, you don't really hate him right? He's your dad!" He mumbled, stroking her dark hair, rocking back and forth. "Alright, how about that, I'll buy you some delicious dango and green tea and we'll talk about this if you want, do you like this idea?"

Sarada slowed down her breathing, watery eyes staring at him. She bobbed her head twice before burying her face on his chest.

"Great! So let's say bye bye to auntie Sakura, uncle Lee and your dad for now, is that ok?"

Sarada turned around halfway with Naruto still holding her, bowing to them. "Bye bye. Thank you."

Sakura kissed her cheek while Lee held her tiny fingers. "Bye bye Sarada-chan. Feel better soon."

Swallowing dryly, Naruto muttered. "Is that alright Sasuke?"

Sasuke thinned his lips, nodding once. Sighing, Naruto turned around ignoring the piercing dark eyes drilling on his back and went to designated place.

Most customers were already gone once they arrived at the restaurant, so it wasn't difficult finding a quiet spot in there. Naruto observed Sarada while they waited the food to arrive, as she calmed herself, rubbing her eyes with her hand. She was still sniffing, stuttering her chest, so Naruto cleaned her face with some napkins, letting her blow her nose on it.

They ate in amicable silence, Naruto blowing the hot tea before offering her to drink it. She took two long gulps before slamming the cup on the table.

"Father won't tell me who is my mother."

Oh. Ooooooooh…Scratching the back of his head, Naruto nibbled his morsel. "It's probably really complicated for him to tell you right? Maybe he will once you're older Sarada-chan."

"I don't care, I just wanted to know who she is." She responded, fingers tightening on the cup. "All kids on the daycare had their moms or dads picking them up. If their moms aren't there, they told me that they had their photos in the altar of their home. Our house doesn't even have that."

Pausing unsure what kind of response he should come up, Naruto settled to munch his dango.

Sarada then mumbled. "I asked before, but father told me that I wouldn't understand for now. I'm getting bigger, you know. I asked again, father just kept saying that it's not important for me to know who is my mother. Then, today I asked once more, and then he said…" She bit her lip, sniffing. "He said that I shouldn't know who is my mother."

"M-maybe he's right, maybe you shouldn't know for now. We grown ups have a lot of problems that we don't want you to suffer too, you know." Naruto explained with a lame shrug.

"But…but the kids in the daycare said that I came from a bad village, full of bad people." Sarada whispered, eyes wide and scared. "And they told me that my father spend years in that place, only to return to Konoha when I was a baby. So what if my mother is one of the bad guys? What if I turn into a bad person too? Then⏤then⏤" She protruded her lower lip, sniffing once again as tears gathered in her eyes.

Naruto sat next to her, enveloping his arms around her while he let his hands slide soothingly on her back. "Oh no, oh no…Sarada-chan, honey. Why do you think you'll ever become a bad person? You're such a sweet girl, whoever told you that deserves some good pinching on their ears. Just ignore those brats."

"B-but⏤"

"Alright." Naruto placed her back on her seat, patting her head. "Let me tell you a secret too then. I also don't know who is my mother and my father."

That information sobered her up, Sarada blinked surprised. "Really? Naruto-sensei?"

"Yep! And I'm not going to lie, it used to bother me a lot too. Then I met Iruka-toosan. We became close friends and he said he wanted to be my adopted father, and he raised me like his own son. You think I'm a bad guy?" Naruto waited till she shook her head, and resumed his speech. "It's all thanks to Iruka-toosan that I became what I am right now. Blood relations and everything…can be important if you want, but only if you want it. And the one who raised you is your father right? You think he raised you to be a bad girl?"

Sarada bit her lip in thought, staring her cup of tea. "No…"

"Then you have nothing to worry about. You're not a bad person and I believe you're not going to be a bad person. Who is your mother, who was your mother…your father will tell you one day. But your father loves you very much, and that's what is really important, right?"

Sarada gazed his reassuring smile, feeling her strength returning. "Right." She blushed. "Does Naruto-sensei love me too?"

"Of course I do!" Naruto exclaimed, ruffling her hair.

Sarada beamed, hugging his waist.

⏤.⏤

Sasuke opened the door before he could even raise his hand to knock on it.

"Her bedroom is over there." He said, turning around to guide Naruto.

Naruto adjusted Sarada's slumbering body draped on his back, following Sasuke. Once they were in her room, Sasuke carefully extracted her from his arms and tucked her in her bed. Sasuke sat on the edge of it, smoothing her forehead with a pensive expression.

"Sorry for all the trouble you went through because of us, I'm sure you're really tired."

"Hm? No, this didn't bother me at all, don't worry about it." Naruto approached, sitting on the other edge, patting her legs. "Sarada-chan is a very kind girl, I'm glad I helped her out."

"Hn." Sasuke quirked a small smile. "She is kind. Completely different from me."

"You're kind too." Naruto muttered to himself. He felt inquisitive eyes aimed towards him, so he said louder. "We talked a little before coming over here. She told me the reason why you guys fought tonight."

Sasuke sighed.

Gulping, Naruto let a uncomfortable silence fall between them, as both men took their time to consider their next steps. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know whoever she was, and how he was going to deal with this sudden surge of jealousy souring in his tongue.

Breaking their eye contact, Naruto pressed on. "You might tell her just a name, or some vague description, if it's too difficult for you. I think it may appease Sarada-chan just a bit, because I don't think any kid like being in the dark, with no adult explaining well about them. Think about that."

"Sarada doesn't have a mother."

Blue eyes blinked repeatedly, tilting his head to one side.

Sasuke heaved another tired exhale. "Well, technically, half her genes comes from a woman but she was not conceived⏤in the regular way. Orochimaru used the eggs from a former colleague of mine and took some of my sperm to fertilize it. When I realized this…it was already too late."

Naruto grunted, scratching his neck. "Yeah, there's no way she can know about this right now."

"Hn."

"But Sarada-chan is a very smart girl, she'll understand about it eventually."

"I suppose. Till there, I'll make sure that this day is going to happen very far from today."

Naruto chuckled from Sasuke's humorless expression. "Protective much? I get it. Sarada-chan is so cute that even though she's not my kid I'm protective over her."

Sasuke peeked through his long eyelashes, gradually slumping his body as he snorted. He continued let his thumb caress his daughter's temple, murmuring. "It's funny though…how I used to live my life so focused in one goal, never bothered to look anywhere else. But, when I saw her, for the first time…"

Naruto allowed himself broaden a sappy smile. "Fatherhood, right?"

"...hm."

Time stilled between them, as Sasuke continued to comb through Sarada's hair with his fingertips, with Naruto quietly gazing them.

"It's weird" Sasuke interrupted this silence with an hesitant mumble. "How easy it is to share everything with you Naruto."

Blue eyes widened, Naruto shifted closer towards him. "Me too. I'm⏤I'm really glad I met you."

His heart was throbbing loudly in his ears, when Sasuke maintained the constant stare, hands dropping to the side. He briefly glanced down before settling with a longing look, pale eyelids half-mast. Naruto licked his lips, leaning closer, his eyelids were also dropping as he could almost feel Sasuke's steady breath tingling his skin⏤

"Papa…" Sarada squirmed half asleep, arm slinging over her father's body before returning to her slumber. Both men scrambled several feet away, Naruto almost fell to the ground but Sasuke maintained in his position with a somewhat grace, their faces red.

"W-well! Look at the time! I should get going then." Naruto babbled, trying very hard looking _anywhere_ but Sasuke's lips.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "I guess you're right. Sarada is practically glued on me, so can you go by yourself and close the door for me? I'll lock it afterwards."

"Sure. I'm going on a mission tomorrow, so see you soon Sasuke." He waited with the acknowledging nod, walking towards the door in brisk steps as he exited their house.

Once Naruto reached to his own apartment, he slammed the door shut, sliding himself to the ground. He groaned loudly, messing his hair.

Okay, great. He had it bad. Really fucking bad.

-.-

AN: one of my fav parts is writing Naruto acting fatherly towards Sarada. (cuz for sure he's a good father, why the fuck canon shows otherwise?)


	3. Chapter 3

"Fox, for goodness' sake, please focus even for few seconds instead of daydreaming about your crush."

Naruto slipped, falling to the ground with a loud thud.

"Sometimes I really forget that you're one of the deadliest ninjas and part of our ANBU squad."

"Oh shut up Deer." Naruto grumbled, rubbing his tender backside. "You weren't any better when you were trying to ask Temari out too."

"Fox does make a good point." Eagle offered his hand and propped Naruto upwards, patting his shoulder. "Actually, you were acting worse whenever she visited Konoha, with those lovesick pupp⏤"

Danger. They all jumped away, a slippery body dashed towards Naruto and broke his ANBU mask. Sharp teeth almost sank on his throat but he grabbed it in time, hand twitching to instinctively slash the snake in half though he settled to throw to a nearby wall. He closed one eye, licking the coppery taste of blood that poured from his eyelid.

"Fox!" Deer and Eagle shouted alarmed.

"I'm alright!" Naruto growled, making hand signs and creating two clones. They managed to make a Rasengan before another bigger snake slithered and successfully dispelled them. He began increasing the speed, sprinting in the direction where the snake came from. His jutsu aimed towards a human obscured by the dim lit room, but unfortunately he parried the Rasengan with ease.

"Oh? Is that Naruto-kun?"

Shivers ran down his spine, he struggled to believe the familiar voice his ears had captured. No, it can't be…

The enemy stepped close to a fire lit spot, illuminating his dark hair, alabaster smooth skin down to his handsome face and sturdy muscles, menacing crimson eyes staring down at him.

His body shook at the revelation, but somehow Naruto knew that something wasn't right. This man, no matter how similar he looked towards Sasuke, he had a haughtier smirk, condescending body language and a cold glare. He even appeared to be few years younger than the Sasuke in Konoha, wearing a white kimono half opened on his frontal chest, a purple lasso tying around the obi and pants hugging tightly his toned legs.

"This is…this is not Sasuke." Eagle muttered with the same bewilderment, veins popping out around his eyes.

"Eagle, please don't give this kind of assessment based on your friendship with Uchiha Sasuke." Deer muttered, making few hand signs and preparing his battle stance.

"I'm not, I've checked. His chakra signature, everything…is just wrong."

This enemy bit his thumb, summoning a gigantic viper that broke the surrounding walls and attempted to wrap around Eagle's body. Eagle pressed few vital points to weaken the monster, falling to the ground and it dissolved to thousands of snakes. Naruto drowned some of the snakes with water jutsu while Deer suffocated others using his shadow, backing Eagle while he sprinted closer to the enemy. He concentrated a good amount of chakra to his palm, releasing it with a palm thrust.

This Sasuke made faster hand signs, expelling fire from his mouth. Eagle barely escaped with his hair singed crisp.

"This is Orochimaru." Deer muttered while Eagle activated a green chakra to repair his burnt skin. "His fighting style, his jutsus, his summons, it all fits. So this is the masterpiece Kabuto is talking about huh."

"Makes sense since he wanted Sasuke's body to his own." Eagle growled, activating his Byakugan. "He failed doing so, and thus he settled making a clone."

"And you little lambs came here so I could test out my new powers. I expected more Konoha ninjas, but this might do." Orochimaru said, guttural voice that crawled to their skin. He made several hand signs, humans appeared from the ground, their eyes vacant and steps sluggish.

Naruto crowded the place with thousands of his clones, staring stupefied when Orochimaru elongated his neck ten times the normal size, before his head shifted, sharp canines ready to bite his arm off. Deer was quicker to use his shadow jutsu and controlled Naruto to jump away, and once his blond teammate was within a safe distance, he created a spark of electricity on his hand and aimed towards their foe.

However, large gates showed out of thin air, protecting Orochimaru while other zombies began attacking the Konoha nins, with several jutsus of all kinds of elements. Eagle parried with Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, creating a barrier dome around them.

Naruto's clones eliminated a good chunk of Orochimaru's undead soldiers thankfully, though most of them continued to stride menacingly towards them, even with some limbs askew.

"We have to eliminate Orochimaru, or else we won't leave this place alive." Deer grumbled, cracking his knuckles. "Fox, concentrate on keeping the path clean for Eagle to pass through and fight against Orochimaru. I'll provide backup and make the enemies not hit your blind spots. Avoid cutting the snakes because their poison can dissipate in thin air."

"You got it." Naruto muttered, Eagle nodded wordlessly. He created more clones to hide Eagle from Orochimaru's sight, restarting a skirmish that they all knew it was going to take very long to end it.

While they had their hands full eliminating Orochimaru's lackeys, a blur appeared close to Deer, almost slashing off his neck. Deer avoided by curving his body backwards, while he managed to capture his foe with shadows binding around its body. However, Orochimaru dissolved into several snakes that lashed out, gashes spilling blood on his skin.

Orochimaru jumped smoothly few feet away from them, staring them in contempt. He zeroed his eyes towards the blond nin, smirking. "This new body feels so great in me…maybe I should eliminate Sasuke-kun once this is all done. Just to set an example how I deal with little traitors like him."

Naruto grounded his teeth, his fingers balling to a fist. A bubbly chakra slowly gathered around him, elongating his teeth and deepening the whisker marks on his cheeks, slit eyes bleeding the sky blue eyes away.

"Fo⏤Naruto." Deer warned him, hand grabbing his arm.

"I'm fine. I can control this." Naruto growled, leaping and landing with his hands and feet to the ground, a long transparent tail snapping out of his body.

Sasuke (no, Orochimaru) stared back with mild amusement, making more hand signs as a huge water snake appeared on his hand. Deer and Eagle avoided getting hit by sprinting far away from sight, Naruto on the other hand, ran towards his foe. He dodged several fireballs aimed his way, the bubbly reddish chakra forming a large hand with sharp claws, ready to smash the body to a pulp.

Sasuke (Orochimaru!) quirked a small smile and Naruto recoiled in an instant, moving slow enough for his enemy to dodge away. Orochimaru's reverberated a guttural laugh.

"Naruto-kun, is that hesitancy I saw that now? How interesting." He poofed out before Eagle could jab his vital points, a long katana regurgitating from his mouth and he slashed few wounds on Eagle's arms.

"Naruto, focus dammit!" Deer growled, his shadows turned into sharp spears, cutting through all enemies surrounding them. He dropped to the ground, his chakra spent.

Naruto cursed to himself, calling his clones and they aided Eagle in his fight against Orochimaru. While he rushed close to Eagle, Orochimaru managed to eliminate his bunshins with one swoop, though the Hyuuga nin used this opportunity to strike right on his chest and arms. Snarling, Orochimaru summoned another enormous snake that bashed him to the wall.

Staring Neji unresponsive body consumed his chakra with fear and rage, another tail protruding out of his body. The transparent armor thickened, bubbles running agitated and shredding some of his tanned skin off. When Naruto opened his mouth, he let an anguished scream that shook all walls and even made Orochimaru halt at once.

Naruto jumped, one hand gathering chakra to his palm and let it spiral to a perfect sphere. Before his enemy could react in time, he caught Orochimaru by the throat, long nails biting the skin, crashing loudly to the ground that left a deep indent on it. Orochimaru spat out blood, while a dark chakra was still forming in Naruto's hand. He was ready to propel his Rasengan on the chest, but all of sudden, Sharingan spinned dangerously and he was pulled to a dark room in a split second.

The blond nin was breathing heavily, nerves still cautious with his surroundings.

"Naruto."

A husky whisper chimed directly to his ears, catching his attention and he stared right ahead. Sasuke appeared in front of him, wearing a chuunin vest and quirking a teasing smirk.

Every alarm bells were ringing in his head, but this Sasuke shrugged his vest off, stripping his turtleneck blouse, approaching with his hand pressing on Naruto's chest. They fell backwards and onto a soft surface, Sasuke straddled Naruto while he unzipped his pants.

This is an illusion, this is a genjutsu, this is not real; those were the thoughts that kept repeating in Naruto's head over and over but his hands were moving against his volition and reached to squeeze Sasuke's buttocks. He let out a sensual moan, hips undulating as he removed the last article of clothing out of his legs.

Naruto couldn't deny how his body was responding to Sasuke being all nude, grunting when moist breath reached his neck and sucked playfully. His senses were being guided to drown in those pleasurable touches, but an insistent flame of hatred kept his mind alert.

How dare he…

How dare he⏤(how dare he)HOW dare he⏤ (How DARE HE) HOW DARE HE

HOW DARE HE, USING SASUKE'S BODY LIKE THIS!

Screaming hoarsely, Naruto snapped out of Orochimaru's control, grabbing a kunai from his holster and dug it on the chest till spilled enough blood. He realized that he was back to reality, staring Orochimaru's shocked eyes as Sharingan deactivated back to black hue.

"I thought⏤it was just lust. I can't believe that I miscalculated⏤…"

Naruto waited till Orochimaru's vision lost focus, breath stopping and all surrounding lackeys crumbled apart. It was only then he lost all his strength, his body falling to the ground, completely spent.

"Naruto." Neji appeared on the corner of his vision, taking off his mask and sat next to him.

"...are you alright? Is Shikamaru alright?" Naruto breathed out.

"Shikamaru might need swallow some soldier pill while we contact Konoha's intelligence." He patted his shoulder, grunting. "You did it, you killed one of Konoha's deadliest enemy."

Once this information sank in at last, Naruto felt a huge weight lifting off his shoulders. At last, he eliminated Sasuke's biggest threat, then Sasuke will definitely stay in Konoha from now on right?

⏤.⏤

"Sasuke is missing."

Naruto did a double take, not quite comprehending Kakashi's somber tone. On the way back to Konoha, Naruto and his teammates were still celebrating their success, while tending their wounds. He'd never imagine that he'd hear such shocking news the moment he'd take one step back to his village.

"No way. How can you be so sure?" Naruto questioned.

"Most their belongings disappeared in a night, he didn't notify me about anything and Sarada-chan is also missing. I noticed that Sasuke was getting increasingly restless once he received the report of Orochimaru's death." Kakashi explained. "I hadn't gone yet to report about this to the Konoha council, then so far, only you and me are aware of Sasuke's disappearance."

Naruto absorbed this info, muttering. "What do you want me to do?"

Kakashi studied the frantic young man, then declared. "I believe that there's still time to make him change his mind, and you'll be the one to talk it out with him."

Naruto made a disbelieving noise. "What, you serious, me? Of all people, I thought that Neji, Sakura, even you are a better choice than me."

"Well, I trust my instincts and I felt that those latest months...Sasuke had grown fonder towards you." Kakashi stopped before any rebuttal would come out of Naruto's mouth. "We don't have enough time anyways. I can use a jutsu that distort time and space but...this is the first time I will use on someone instead of in an inanimate object. Are you willing to risk it?"

Inquiring eyes sharpened with determination, nodding. Kakashi lifted his Konoha bandana, Sharingan activating and tomoes morphing to a different shape. Naruto felt the air compressing around him, his entire body tightening and being sucked into a spiral. His vision blackened out of the Hokage's office, and suddenly he arrived in some place outdoors, with azure skies and roaring waterfalls almost rendering him deaf.

He spotted Sasuke from afar, the dark haired nin was running towards him until he also noticed Naruto and stopped on his tracks. His expression looked pained and troubled. "Fucking Kakashi...I didn't expect he'd call you up."

"Sasuke, you're not really going away from Konoha...again." Naruto gnawed his lower lip. "Right?"

Sasuke grunted, closing his eyes and readying a battle stance. However, much to his surprise, Naruto remained in his spot, body unguarded.

"Sasuke. I don't want to fight. Because I know and you know, if we fight right now, we'll both die." He muttered, closing in so he could hear Sasuke's voice clearer away from the loud noise of waterfalls. "Can't we talk? I'm all ears."

Sasuke gave in a frustrated groan, avoiding to look at Naruto's earnest blue eyes. "Naruto, I have to go, now that Orochimaru is away."

"...why?"

"I was⏤naive, thinking that Orochimaru would be eliminated as soon as I gave enough information to Kakashi once I was back to Konoha. And yet, I thought that while I was in Konoha, it'd provide enough protection against Orochimaru's spies."

"Sure, that's why you came back to Konoha right? You're going to live there and we⏤"

"You don't get it, I was⏤ getting too comfortable there, I was getting weak. My older brother Itachi already annihilated my entire clan and he knows all about Konoha inside out! We're nothing but sitting ducks if we continued to live there, Itachi might target Sarada if he got ahold about her."

"Sasuke⏤"

"I have to hunt Itachi down, before he finds my daughter."

"Sasuke wait, I get it. I really do." Naruto hurried to answer. "But why won't you let us do this with you, together, against him?"

Sasuke scoffed. "I can't let other people get involved with me, he's dangerous. This is my cross I have to bear."

Sighing, Naruto looked around. "Where's Sarada-chan then?"

"In a hideout that only I know, with some of my allies."

"Sasuke⏤" Naruto's eyes turned solemn. "You're not going to abandon her like that, right?"

"...Itachi is the strongest foe⏤"

"That doesn't matter Sasuke, how can you do this, leaving your daughter alo⏤"

Sasuke interrupted him. "I also don't wish for this to happen, but I'm covering all possibilities and scenarios! No matter what, I have to protect her."

"I know! But you're destroying her life if you die fighting against your older brother! You're the most important person in her world, are you really going to leave her when she needs you the most?!" Naruto raised his voice, getting closer towards him. "After everything we had suffered while we were orphans, you're going to do the same thing to Sarada-chan?!"

"Then what am I supposed to do then?!" Sasuke blurted out in desperation.

"Trust me!" Naruto seized his arms tightly, peering eyes cast upon him. "Trust us, Neji, Sakura, Kakashi, everyone! There's no way we'll let Itachi touch a strand of hair on Sarada-chan. Don't you get it? Just like Sarada is important to you, you're important to me! I don't want to lose you either!"

"And⏤" Sasuke shook his head, gritting his teeth. "And that's why I said I was getting too comfortable in Konoha Naruto, when you came to my life. I was forgetting about Itachi, and how he was a threat that I'm not allowed to forget about. What if he suddenly appears and⏤"

Naruto held Sasuke's face with both his hands, never breaking their mutual gaze.

"Let he be a threat we'll share. I can't afford to lose you or Sarada-chan, and I doubt that Kakashi-sensei will stay quiet over all this. Let's go back to Konoha, okay?"

Sasuke fell silent contemplating, feeling Naruto's warm fingers on his cheeks. Black eyes flickered back and forth, reconsidering his words, the close proximity providing some sense of comfort he hadn't felt in a very long time.

Gathering his strength, he muttered. "Okay."

Naruto sagged his body in relief, as Sasuke continued to recite. "Provide we'll train daily from now on. And Kakashi gives me a mission about this, putting in the highest priority to allow me going after any information regarding Itachi."

"Sure, I'll help you out and we'll arrange that." Naruto reassured him.

"...that still means that I can't take good care of Sarada, if I'm outside most time."

Naruto blushed, muttering. "I mean, if you want, she could have two dads taking care of her." When he saw Sasuke's raised eyebrow in response, he backpedalled fast. "I mean⏤metaphorically speaking, Sarada-chan is like a daughter to me, you know? That doesn't mean I'm coming onto you, unless of course you won't mind but forget whatever I said if you're uncomfortable about it, especially if you're uncomfortable about it, and whoa, is it getting hot in here? We already chatted too much, should we go back before Kakashi-sensei gets worried about us and⏤"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, and silenced him with a swift kiss. This soft contact shattered all thoughts in his mind, as Naruto yielded to this surge of warmth, his hands finding Sasuke's waist and pulling closer to him. Sasuke pushed back, mouths still attached, each kiss growing in intensity as he groaned low on his throat.

They pulled back gradually, candid smiles sharing together. Sasuke pecked his lips. "I would very much like that."

⏤.⏤

Omake

"Friendly fire, that's it. That was friendly fire." Sarada sulked, remembering her beloved's blushing face as he bid goodbye.

"Hn."

"Here I was, getting rid of all rivals left and right in school, when you, of all people, took advantage and got Naruto-sensei all to yourself. This is like...the ultimate betrayal. The worst."

"Hm."

Sarada glared, puffing her cheeks. "This is so unfair! When did that happen and what kind of trick did you do to get him huh? Confess!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I did nothing out of the normal. Naruto-sensei and I met. We talked, we've gotten closer, I asked him out, he accepted. That's all."

"This is unfair."

"Hn." Sasuke licked his lips, humming to himself. That dumbass still tasted of miso.

Sarada placed her hands on her hips, knitting her eyebrows despite seeing her father's contented smile. "You should have gotten in line you know. I liked him first, I liked him since I was five!"

Sasuke let out a chuckle, amused with his daughter's shenanigans. He messed with her hair. "Too bad my child, because I still win then. I used to have a crush on him since I was thirteen."

-.-

AN: FUCKING GIGANTIC CHAPTER OF DOOM. I had way too much fun describing the action scenes. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter and please leave some reviews!


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